YA Fanatic

Love. Love. Love. Love. Yes, I absolutely enjoyed this little book. I've been hearing about Patrick Ness for a little while now (all good things) and I can see why. His storytelling is brilliant. This is a wonderful adaptation of Siobhan Dowd's ideas.

A fairly short book about a 13 year old boy named Conor. Conor lives with his sickly mother. He deals with bullies at school and is fighting with his best friend. Things are normal, or at least normal for anyone dealing with a parent who has cancer until the monster comes. Every night at 12:07am the yew tree in Conor's yard comes to life, claiming that Conor called him. Is the monster real, is Conor dreaming, why would Conor call the monster?

Though, one might think this is just a horror story full of nightmares and monsters, its really so much more, so much. That's what makes it absolutely brilliant. A different look into families dealing with cancer and how it affects children, parents, grandparents, and even an entire school.

It's not necessarily an easy or light read. But one that I highly recommend you take the time to do so. The pictures are terrifying and make it even more of a beautiful story. Delve in and be prepared to cry and be amazed at Ness's talent to tell a simple yet constructing story.

I've never read a Ness book, but this leaves me wanting more. I have no doubt I will be going through his books in the very near future.